Sunday, August 27, 2017

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0200Z August 28, 2017

SMOKE:
Pacific Coast...
Fires across central British Columbia were seen producing smoke that is
combining with smoke with smoke from fires in Washington, Oregon, and
northern California to produce a smoke layer blanketing the region. The
layer also extended out over the near-shore Pacific Ocean south across
the San Joaquin Valley, where another wildfire contributed moderate to
heavily thick smoke to the plume.

Intermountain West into western Great Plains...
Wildfires throughout southeastern British Columbia, Idaho, and Montana
were producing a varying density smoke plume that extends southeastward
into western Kansas. Many individual smoke plumes produced very thick
smoke plumes, which contributed to the overall light to moderate smoke
plume. The Lolo peak fire appears to have been the biggest individual
contributor, with moderate to thick remnant smoke easily visible.

Eastern North America....
Fires located throughout central Saskatchewan are producing impressive
smoke plumes that are contributing to a large area of varying density
smoke across eastern Canada and northeastern CONUS. The smoke plumes
were emitting thick smoke, with moderate to heavily dense smoke across
central Manitoba, eastern Ontario, and far northwestern Minnesota. Fires
across central Ontario also contributed to the larger area of light smoke,
with the production of a moderate smoke plume extending to the northeast
across Hudson Bay.

Utah...
A wildfire in Central Utah has been producing smoke throughout the day,
with an eruption of very dense smoke after 2300Z. The light density
smoke extends south into northeastern Arizona with moderate density smoke
surrounding the plume and extending to the south into east-central Utah.


DUST:
Yucatan Peninsula/Central America/Western Caribbean
A Saharan Dust layer is observed over the eastern Yucatan Peninsula,
Belize, northern Honduras, and the westernmost portions of the Caribbean
Sea. This dust layer was drifting towards the west and northwest.

Central Atlantic
A second Saharan dust layer can be seen entering the GOES-East Visible
imagery over the central Atlantic Ocean. This layer was seen moving off
to the west toward or just north of the Leeward Islands.

Hosley


THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS
OF SMOKE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE FIRES AND SMOKE WHICH HAS BECOME
DETACHED FROM THE FIRES AND DRIFTED SOME DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE SOURCE
FIRE. TYPICALLY OVER THE COURSE OF ONE OR MORE DAYS. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST
ARE ALSO DESCRIBED. USERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO VIEW A GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF
THESE AND OTHER PLUMES WHICH ARE LESS EXTENSIVE AND STILL ATTACHED TO
THE SOURCE FIRE IN VARIOUS GRAPHIC FORMATS ON OUR WEB SITE:

JPEG:   http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/land/hms.html
GIS:    http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm
KML:    http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/kml.html
ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO
SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.